Memorial archaeologists Drs. Lisa Rankin and Scott Neilsen will be featured in upcoming episodes of Wild Archaeology.
A television program from the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), Wild Archaeology is the first documentary television series to explore the archaeological record of Canada’s Indigenous Peoples from the point of view of Indigenous Peoples.
Based on seven years of extensive research in consultation with Aboriginal communities and Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal archaeologists, the series took two years to film, often in remote and hard-to-reach locations.
1/ On site
Dr. Scott Neilson explains the background of the Sheshatshiu site in Labrador.
2/ Show hosts
Dr. Neilson with Wild Archaeology hosts Dr. Rudy Reimer, Jenifer Brousseau and Jacob Pratt.
3/ Grad student
Graduate student Jeralyn Bohms, who completed an MA on the Double Mer Point project, with Wild Archaeology host and archaeologist Dr. Rudy Reimer.
4/ At the lab
Dr. Lisa Rankin, right, at Memorial's Archaeology Conservation Laboratory with Wild Archaeology hosts Jenifer Brousseau and Jacob Pratt.
Innu of Sheshatshiu
Dr. Neilsen’s work is featured in Episode 11, titled “Innu of Sheshatshiu,” which will air on Tuesday, Nov. 15, at 9 p.m. in N.L. and 8:30 p.m. in Labrador.
Dr. Neilsen is exploring the long-term history of Indigenous Peoples in Eastern Quebec and Labrador with the Sheshatshiu Archaeology Project — a multi-year research partnership between Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation and Memorial’s Labrador Institute.
In the episode, the three hosts — Dr. Rudy Reimer of the Squamish Nation, Jenifer Brousseau of the Ojibway-Anishnaabe Nation and Jacob Pratt of the Dakota/Saulteaux Nation — work to uncover ancient campsites of the Innu.
The work of Inuit artist, and recent Muskrat Falls activist/hunger striker, Billy Gaultier is also featured in the program.
The Inuit of Rigolet
Dr. Rankin appears in a two-part episode titled “The Inuit of Rigolet,” airing Tuesday, Nov. 22, and Tuesday, Nov. 29, at 9 p.m. in N.L. and 8:30 p.m. in Labrador. In the first episode, the hosts help to excavate an 18th-century sod house at the Double Mer Point archaeological site near Rigolet on Labrador’s North Coast.
The second episode also includes some footage shot at Memorial’s St. John’s campus, with Dr. Rankin revealing some of the sites’ most impressive finds to date.
Each episode in Wild Archaeology explores a distinct culture and features an animated oral story in the language of the community explored: Squamish (Squamish, B.C.), Dene (White River, Yukon), Inuvialuit (Mackenzie Delta, NWT), Ojibwe (Manitoulin, Ont.), Heiltsuk (Central Coast, B.C.) Cree (Blackfoot, Alta.) and Innu Aimun (Labrador).
